A CONVERSATION WITH O’STEEN AND FILM EDITOR CAROL LITTLETON
For Immediate Release
December 14, 2009
Contact: Carol Eisner (310) 839-1400 carol@eisnerpr.com
bobbieosteen.com
THE INVISIBLE CUT:Â HOW EDITORS MAKE MOVIE MAGIC
AUTHOR BOBBIE O’STEEN IN CONVERSATION WITH FILM EDITOR CAROL LITTLETON
PRESENTED BY UCLA FILM & TELEVISION ARCHIVE AT THE BILLY WILDER THEATER
The Film “Body Heat†Screens
Los Angeles (December 14, 2009) – The UCLA Film & Television Archive and the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.) present “Film Editing: The Invisible Cut†with author Bobbie O’Steen in discussion with film editor Carol Littleton, on Sunday, January 10, 2010, 7 p.m., at the Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, along with screening of the 1981 film noir “Body Heat.†Littleton was interviewed in O’Steen’s book and will talk about her work on “Body Heat,†including a unique analysis of her process through the use of frame grabs. O’Steen will sign books before and after event. Box office opens one hour before. Advance tickets ($10) may be purchased at www.cinema.ucla.edu.
“The Invisible Cut: How Editors Make Movie Magic†(Michael Wiese, 2009) is the newest book from writer Bobbie O’Steen, and her second about film editing, in which she gets inside the editor’s head and shows how the mysterious art of editing is actually done. The author uses the “out†and “in†frames of the actual cuts from classic scenes from landmark movies like “The Graduate,†“Chinatown,†“Rear Window,†“French Connection†and “Body Heat†as well as in-depth interviews to explain how the editor manipulates and seduces the audience to create the invisible cut.
The New York-based author first wrote about film with her late husband, Sam O’Steen, the legendary Oscar nominated film editor in ““Cut To The Chase: Forty-Five Years of Editing America’s Favorite Movies” (2002), filled with candid stories from the cutting room and behind the scenes on some of the most influential movies in motion picture history. Sam O’Steen was one of Hollywood’s most distinguished film editors who worked with directors Mike Nichols, Roman Polanski and many others during what is now referred to as the “Golden Age.â€
“Ultimately the editor is not only the seducer who must anticipate our needs and feelings but he makes us want things we’re not even aware of,†says Bobbie O’Steen, who worked as a story editor, screenwriter and film editor for over 30 years and has a unique perspective on the moviemaking process. “Whenever the editor chooses a shot and decides exactly where to start that shot and where to end it, he or she must create an overall pace and rhythm that pulls the audience in and tells the story in the most satisfying way. And only then will the cuts become invisible. All told, editing is a quirky combination of truth, trickery, and luck. When the editor reaps the best of all three, he or she can create movie magic,†says O’Steen.
Carol Littleton, A.C.E., whose award-winning work includes “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,†“The Anniversary Party†and “The Big Chill†says, “I see my job as an editor as two-fold: One is to interpret what the director wants and his unique view of the material and the other thing is that I want to tell the story in the best way possible…What you’re doing has to be imperceptible.â€
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is internationally renowned for its pioneering efforts to rescue, preserve and showcase moving image media, and is dedicated to ensuring that the collective visual memory of our time is explored and enjoyed for generations to come.
A unique resource for media study, the Archive holds one of the largest collections of moving image media in the world and presents hundreds of public film programs each year in its Los Angeles theater.
The event is made possible in part by the generous support of the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.), an honorary organization of distinguished film editors.
Who: Bobbie O’Steen, Author, “The Invisible Cut: How Editors Make Movie Magic†with award-winning film editor Carol Littleton.
What: Bobbie O’Steen and Carol Littleton talk about the art of editing and analyze the process, using frame grabs from the film, “Body Heat†(113 mins.), which will be screened following discussion. Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, the film stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, Mickey Rourke.
When: Sunday, January 10, 2010, 7 pm; $10.
Where: Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (corner of Wilshire and Westwood Blvds.).
How:Â Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and the American Cinema Editors (A.C.E.).
Who Should Attend? The event is useful to any film student, screenwriter, aspiring director or editor, and especially those currently working in the trenches of Hollywood learning how films are made or any film aficionado interested in the art of editing.
About Bobbie O’Steen
Bobbie O’Steen is a New York-based writer who has been immersed in the world of film editing all her life.
She developed her passion for movies watching her father, film editor Richard Meyer (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,†“God’s Little Acreâ€). After earning a degree in anthropology at Stanford University, she worked with such luminaries as Ray Bradbury and Howard Fast, adapting their novels into screenplays. Shortly after, she joined the ranks of editors, receiving an Emmy® nomination for the television movie “Best Little Girl in the World.†She continued to work in editing (“Straight Time,†“Tessâ€) and screenwriting (“Clem & Peewee,†“The Dalton Girlsâ€). In 2002 she wrote “Cut to the Chase,†a critically acclaimed book based on interviews with her collaborator and husband of 23 years, legendary film editor Sam O’Steen (“The Graduate,†“Chinatownâ€). In her new book, “The Invisible Cut,†Bobbie uses frame grabs of actual cuts from classic movie scenes (including “Body Heat,†“Twelve Angry Men,†“Rear Window†and “The French Connectionâ€) to get deep inside the mind of the film editor and explain how the mysterious art is actually done.
THE INVISIBLE CUT
How Editors Make Movie Magic
By Bobbie O’Steen
Michael Wiese, March 2009
Performing Arts/Film & Video/Editing
$28.95 USA
ISBN 978-1-932907-53-7
351 Pages, Trade Paperback
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